said that, Graham Weaver,” she said, her eyes flashing.
Not looking the least bit apologetic, he shrugged. “I had to say something.”
“It couldn’t have been something nice?”
Again, Graham surprised them all by chuckling. “Nee. I wanted to see the spark in your eyes.” He winked. “And there it is once again,” he said, sounding genuinely pleased. “Now you are finally looking at me with your pretty brown eyes. I thought you were gonna ignore me until we got into your house.” Looking at both Lucy and Calvin, he motioned for them to walk behind as he and Mattie entered the house.
Though Lucy ached to protect her, she did as Graham bid. He was able to do something that she had not been able to do the whole journey home—get Mattie to speak.
Lucy and Calvin kept some distance as Mattie and Graham continued speaking.
“I have no hair,” her cousin whined as they went into the entryway.
“I know,” he said gently.
“I look awful.”
“You look mighty different, but maybe not ‘awful.’ Actually, you just look like Mattie with no hair.”
Lucy shared a smile with Calvin as Mattie protested. “Graham—”
“Shh, now. All it means to me is that the medicine is helping your cancer stay away. Now, let me help you to the couch.”
“Will you stay for a while?”
“I will.”
Soon, they moved too far into the house for Lucy and Calvin to hear another word.
Now that she knew her cousin was in good hands, Lucy sighed with relief. It had been a long few days. “I have to say it, Calvin. Your brother Graham is a gift from heaven right now.”
Calvin chuckled. “You might be the first person besides my mamm to ever call him that.”
“I tried the whole way home to get her to talk about how she was feeling, but she refused,” she said as she joined him on the stoop.
“We got lucky. When Jenna told us about your phone call, and about Mattie’s hair, we knew we had to do something.” Looking contemplative, Calvin corrected himself. “Well, Graham insisted that we come over and wait.”
“He’s such a good friend to her.”
“No less than you, Lucy.”
She shivered. At the moment, she felt completely ineffective. “I could hardly get her to say a word the whole way home.”
“Sometimes talking isn’t needed, though, you know?”
“Is that why you came, too?”
“Partly. I also wanted to check on you.” As if it was the most natural thing in the world, Calvin reached for her hand and enfolded it in his. “Are you all right, Lucy?”
She couldn’t seem to think about anything other than how warm his skin was. How gentle his grip was. “Me? I’m fine.”
“I just wanted to be sure. It’s hard work, being strong all the time, you know.”
Feeling so secure, and feeling yet another shiver of awareness at his touch, Lucy finally let her guard down. “To be honest, it’s been a hard few days. All the medical tests and terms are confusing. And Mattie, of course, was naerfich and afraid.”
“Anyone would be nervous and afraid, I think.”
“Well, let me just say that it’s a blessing you and your brother were here. I’ve been walking on eggshells around Mattie’s bald head. One minute it would seem like it didn’t bother her, then next it looked liked tears were going to flow at any minute. My way of dealing with it was to not mention it, I suppose. But I think Graham’s teasing helped her more.”
“She and Graham have been friends for a mighty long time. He always seems to know what is best for Mattie.”
“It seems like more than that . . .”
Calvin shook his head. “It’s not. They’ve never had any interest in anything other than friendship.”
“Sometimes things change.”
“Sometimes they do, but I don’t think their relationship will change much. They value their friendship, and that’s a gut thing.”
“You’re right about that.” Looking hard at Calvin, she said, “Are you ever going to talk to me about what happened between Gwen and Will?”
His grip tightened, then loosened as he visibly controlled his response. “There is nothing to say.”
“I’ve heard rumors, Calvin. Are you sure you are over her?”
For a few minutes, Calvin said nothing. Just stared out at the fields in front of them, lost in thought. Then he looked her way. “Gwen and I were courting for some time. Then one day, she handed me a note.”
“What did it say?”
“It said that she didn’t want me anymore, if you want to know the truth. It said that she and Will were happier